A Nightmare Is Just A Nightmare
by TheDarkMysteriousAuthor
Summary: When Rigby gets nightmares, He doesn't tell. Every night, his dreams turned to nightmares. Even in day, His mind flashes the scenes. All because of something in his past? Nonsense. Something that's about to happen? Ridiculous. Then what? It's just a nightmare, after all. Updates weekly. Or on demand. Happens before "Steak Me Amadeus", like, months before.
1. Chapter 1

I startled awake as my eyes suddenly popped open. My heart was beating in rapid time with my breathing. I stared up at the blank ceiling, still frozen from whatever woke me up. I started to stretch, thinking all I needed was a good stretch to throw the sleep off my body. I even let out a very obnoxious groan that Mordecai would have thrown a pillow in my face just to shut me up.

But except, there was no Mordecai.

I looked to my right to find it clean and empty. The alarm clock on his bedside table read 8:40 AM.

There was no point sleeping again, I thought, so I just rolled off my trampoline and onto the floor, hoping the thud would wake me up even more than stretching.

Turns out it did. Having your whole body slam on the floor is almost the same as getting hit by something. I pushed myself up gingerly, trying not to fall back down. I'm still a little dizzy. I started walking down to the bathroom to at least prepare myself for the day of something to do in a Saturday.

Before I went outside, I noticed a note just taped on the door, so I rubbed the dirt from my eyes and read it:

 _Rigby,_

 _If you're reading this, that means you've woken up. (No surprise)_

 _Anyway, I forgot to tell you I'm going camping with Margaret and her family, so I'm gonna be gone for the day._

 _Donuts are in the fridge. Have some, if you want._

 _-Mordecai_

I was frustrated with Mordecai for not telling me about this. Didn't he know we had plans! Well, I just thought of them when I woke up, but come on! He just left his best friend home alone, and I get to do what? Watch movies by myself?

I threw the note aside with a scream. I needed a shower.

After showering, I started to think of something to wear since it's hella cold outside. It's not winter, however, but still.

I searched through the clothes pile on my trampoline. Mordecai always complained about me just tossing clothes on the trampoline, but I have my own system and it works for me.

I finally found a grey, long-sleeved shirt for the cold. Before I wear it, I smelled something horrible. Little did I know it was from the shirt. Disgusted, I swiped a nearby can of cologne in the bathroom and sprayed it all over. I really have to wash these sometime.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a few donuts. Sure, Eileen told me once that it's not a good breakfast choice, but I really can't think of anything else. After gobbling it down, I went outside and took a walk around the park.

Usually, at these times of loneliness, I'd always think about emotions and life, a shiver running across my skin from just the mention. I hate thinking about those, but something came across my mind when I'm trying not to think.

Something scary.

Images flashed inside my mind. All of them were blurry, even the noise, but there's one thing that was clear and heard above everything else.

Someone calling for help.

It was a familiar voice but I couldn't actually tell who.

Then, BANG!

A gunshot. The call for help silenced.

I opened my eyes again. I was back in the park. I breathed like I was choking down a meatball from a meatball sub, nearly tripping over my own two feet, but I balanced myself with a lamp post beside me.

Okay… okay… Think of something else, quick.

I looked at my feet, just to see a lonely pebble.

Pebbles! I could just count them.

Then, while walking, I suddenly thought of getting a cup of coffee at the coffee shop. I wanted to try something new for a change, however. I left the park, and walked my way there instead of using the cart. I don't even have the keys anyway.

Yeah, something new for a change.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I entered the coffee shop. Man, I love the smell of coffee in the morning. I checked my phone for the time, which said 9:30 AM. Well, it was a good walk. A little exercise is what I need.

I approached the counter and thought what to order. That's when a barista came up in front of me.

The barista, around her 20's, asked me what I would get. I would get a regular black, but since I felt like trying something new, I ordered a Chocolate Chip coffee.

That order sounded familiar…

"Ok. That'll be 6.25," said the barista, placing her pencil back in her pocket.

After placing the exact change, I went to the same table that Mordecai and I would always sit. I'd feel uncomfortable just sitting anywhere else. Perhaps, it's just tradition for me to sit somewhere familiar to me.

While waiting for my coffee, I played around my phone a bit. It was an old phone, not those fancy touch screen phones. There was nothing to do with my phone but play the keys around. Every press makes the phone beep at different tones, from different keys. I even played the happy birthday song Mordecai and I wrote once for fun.

It was then I just stared at my phone like it had a pair of eyes. I looked at my contacts and my eyes landed on Eileen's number. I haven't hung out with her for a while. In fact, she didn't go to work after Mordecai kissed Margaret in that meteor shower once. I wonder what happened to her.

The same barista came up to me, with a tray that has a cup of coffee on her hand. As she gave the coffee to me, she gave me a look like she had seen me before.

"Are you Rigby?" she asked.

I replied, "Who's asking?" Wow, dude. That sounded strict.

"Just me. I know you're friends with her."

I gave her a small chuckle, "Why, yes. Yes I am."

"You know, Eileen wasn't here for a week. Any idea what happened to her?"

"I dunno. I thought you'd know." I said to her, with a little pang of worry in my tone.

"Well, she didn't call sick or anything. Perhaps college work?"

I started typing a text message to her, "I'm texting her right now."

 _Hey. It's rigbone here! Where r u?_

I pressed send and took a sip of the coffee. Man, it's so good.

The barista sat across the table, just concerned for Eileen. I guess.

The phone rang. I picked it up from the table to see a message from Eileen.

 _Home. Kinda tired._

I replied,

 _Well, want to hang out? Got nothin to do._

"Well?" The barista asked.

"She's home. I'm gonna check. Just waiting on her text."

My phone rang.

 _Sure! I'll be ready this afternoon. Meet me at noon? My place?_

I replied, with a grin on my face,

 _Yeah! c u soon._

I pocketed my phone in, and took another sip.

"You want it to go?" the barista asked me.

"Yeah."

After getting the to-go cup, I thanked the barista and went outside. I hailed a cab and sat on its black leather seats. I took a few sips of the coffee, told the driver where to go and laid back on the seats. I placed the cup into the cupholder since I feel a little sleepy. It's gonna be a long drive so I'll just take a small nap. I just slowly closed my eyes, as I leaned my head to the door of the cab.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

For those who made it this far and who waited for an update,

 ** _I apologize._**

Last week, my internet service provider (I don't have legal rights to mention the company and shit.) crashed. It's problem is beyond my resetting expertise and my uncle's I.P. address configuration. It's a DNS problem and this shitty problem happened 5 weeks ago. It took 2 weeks just to get it fixed. Right now, I have to resort to use my mobile data as an internet hotspot for my desktop so I can post this chapter.

If you live in the Philippines, then guess which internet service provider, that's currently shit right now, I'm using. And I sincerely feel your pain.

If you don't live in the Philippines, consider this a warning before you go through the Philippine border and explore the sights of Vigan or Bohol or anywhere you want to go. This country has one of the weakest internet bandwiths. About an average of 2 Megabytes/second. I suggest playing LoL or DotA at the local Philippine servers, but don't expect to play with your friends at your homeland smoothly. It's shit.

Well that's one rant I won't forget.

And also, my friend, who has an FanFiction account, is currently proofreading chapter 3 of this fanfic. I might update tomorrow or 2 days from now to compensate my delay.

(That is the most fanciest Author's note you've ever written so far.)

Hey, shut up life. It's called "addressing to the public"

(Yeah? I think it's called "Addressing to your ass.")

Life, get the fuck outta here.

(No.)

Bitch.

Anyway, that's all for now.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to Mordecai shaking me back and forth-

Wait… _Mordecai_?

"Dude! Get down!" Mordecai yelled, as he tackled me to the ground behind a table.

I was in a restaurant and wearing a suit. I don't remember wearing a suit in the cab and I don't remember getting here! The restaurant looked fancy and rich - clean floor, sparkling tiles, stone pillars and such. The style of the restaurant looked classical, somewhere I would never go to, and why was there a guy holding a rocket launcher?!

He fired and the rocket flew towards us before it exploded on the floor where we just were. I screamed and shut my eyes as my hands flew up to cover my painfully, ringing ears. I could hear gunshots and someone else screaming. I wasn't sure who, but I think it was a girl.

A few seconds later, the pain subsided and I was able to open my eyes once again. Mordecai pointed across the restaurant to an object on the other side and yelled, "Get the suitcase!"

I looked at suitcase before noticing the crossfire of bullets separating me from it. It was a death mission, but I had no other choice.

I ran as quickly as I could on all fours, ducking behind smashed pillars and overturned tables until I managed to get to the suitcase. A triumphant feeling overcame me as I held the leather against my chest, but that was quickly replaced with fear as a different, much colder object pressed into my back. I turned my head slightly over my shoulder to see the gleaming mouth of a gun held by the metal hand of a hooded figure. Within the shadow, all I could see was one glowing, red eye staring back at me and the suitcase.

"Give me the cash!" said the hooded figure.

I shook my head quickly in fear and said, "No."

"Well, good riddance."

He moved to pull the trigger and lunged forward, trying in vain to avoid the bullet aimed at my body.

Then suddenly, I hit my head on a black leather seat.

Wait, wha-

"That'll be 10 bucks, kid."

Hold up… what was that?

I sat up quickly, my hand over the left side of my chest. I was sweating, my heart was beating faster than a train, and my breathing was like a panting dog… was any of that real? Or was I just dreaming?

I looked outside, taking in the familiar oak tree and the neighbour's beat-up red car, before realizing I was at Eileen's house. I checked my phone, and it showed 10:45 AM.

"Hey, kid! You paying or what?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the driver yelled at me. I was still in the cab? I pulled out my money to pay the fare and grabbed my coffee before exiting.

As the cab slowly drove away, I looked at Eileen's house. Her grass is neatly trimmed and the pavement is nicely done. There were a few ornaments on the lawn, like a ceramic turtle or two. Good thing there were no gnomes - gnomes creep me out. The house is nicely painted in a shade of brown, like my fur.

I slowly walked to the front door, but then stopped when I heard murmuring on the other side. That's probably Eileen talking to someone at the phone. I waited for a couple of moments until I heard her cut the call. I didn't bother peeking through the window. That would be creepy, but it also gave me an idea.

I pulled out my phone and typed a quick message before hitting "Send", to tell Eileen I was outside.

A few seconds, I heard her shout through the door, "Be there in a second!"

Well, at least I got something to do with her.


	4. Chapter 4

Eileen opened the door and asked, "Why are you here so early?"

"I have nothing to do for the morning, and I'm kind of bored, so I'm here," I answered, ending with a weak laugh as I sipped my coffee, almost causing me to cough it out.

Eileen shook her head as she let me inside. I took a quick look around as I stepped inside, noticing an old Hanatronic television there, a wide-screen desktop over there, and a comfy couch in the middle.

Eileen closed the door behind me and said, "I'll just get my laptop. You stay here and wait, ok?"

I nodded and sat down on the sofa. As I saw Eileen run up the stairs, I slumped down to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, the images of my dream were still fresh in my mind. Damn brain, always playing games on me. But I couldn't shake the cold feeling I had just thinking about it. Somehow, it felt real, but at the same time, not real, at least not yet. How could I not be freaked out about this?

I suddenly gulped in my coffee down, trying to drive the horrible images and the cold from my body. It may have been hot, but at least it distracted me.

Just as I was about to finish it, Eileen popped out of the corner. "Got the laptop!" she yelled as she barged in and hopped on the couch.

I yelled in surprise, not expecting her to come down so quickly, especially after being so paranoid from my dream. Eileen couldn't help but laugh as my coffee cup almost fell from my hand. Then she asked, "So, what do you want to watch? The Space Apes 3 or Gun and Run, Reloaded?"

I was intrigued about Gun and Run, Reloaded but there was something else I had just thought about that could possibly help me with my problem. "Got Inception?"

Eileen smiled. "Yeah, but you saw that movie like a bunch of times. Why watch it again?"

I shrugged. "I don't mind watching it again. Just plop it in."

Eileen slid her finger across the track-pad of the laptop and selected the movie.

As the movie was starting, she asked, "Snacks?"

I shook my head softly, my eyes already glued to the tiny people moving on the screen. As it progressed, my palms began to get clammy and I could feel tiny droplets pooling on my forehead. The dream sequences, the explanation about 'inception', and the whole "dream" thing scared me a little. Those dreams… Man, they scared me sometimes. Gun shots, explosions, and screams, were the things me and Mordecai get used to almost every week, but death? That's one thing I wasn't used to. If every dream ended when I died, what happened then? What if dreams were like other worlds we lived in and it just ended when we died? What if this was all a dream? Why did dreams feel real?

"Rigby? Are you okay?" She asked, looking at me before looking down.

I followed her gaze down to our entwined fingers. Oh my God, I was so freaked I didn't notice I was holding Eileen's hand too hard.

"Yeah. I am." I nodded, releasing my grip a bit as I gave her a fake smile.

"Rigby, no you're not. Tell me, what's bugging you?"

"Um..." I tried to think of some excuse. I didn't want to tell her I was having crazy nightmares. That would just be too embarrassing for me, even to someone like Eileen.

So I cut the conversation and said, "Never mind that. Anyway, this Inception thing is kind of tricky, isn't it?"

"You can say that again." Eileen agreed.

"I was wondering about the dreams, though."

"What about it?" Eileen asked.

"You know, some dreams where you're like an awesome superhero or an awesome scientist. I wonder what causes those dreams."

"Well, I'm no expert, but I think they're caused by your subconscience."

"Subconscience?"

"Yeah, but the thing about dreams is that they're too flexible. You might be dreaming about a thing you love, or you might be dreaming a random place, or even about something scary. Either way, it's just a dream."

I nodded slowly, but now I wanted to ask her more.

"What about when a person dreams about being in a shoot-out?" I asked, without giving a sense of hint that the person is me.

"Well, I'd think that person always get into action and stuff. I don't know. Like I said, dreams are flexible."

"Could it include something like a damsel in distress?"

Eileen nodded. "Yeah, if the person thinks of having a love interest or wanting to have a love interest."

I nodded my head, and turned back to the movie, not wanting to go too deeply with this before Eileen got too concerned.

As the movie ended, I stretched and yawned out of exhaustion. "Are you tired?" asked Eileen.

"Yeah. Just a bit bored. I guess I was wrong about watching a movie again and again."

Eileen laughed as she elbowed me in the arm. "Told you."

Then finally, something popped into my mind. "Hey, Eileen?," I asked, "Someone told me you haven't been at work for a while now. Mind telling me what's going on?"

Eileen couldn't help but cross her arms in insecurity. "It's just Margaret. She's always so busy. I made some plans for about a week ago, but then she said that she couldn't make it. I was too devastated to go to work, so I called in sick."

I let out a small, "Oh." At least it wasn't anything too serious.

We both slumped down on the couch and looked towards the clock above her TV. It was about noon now, and, as if on cue, my stomach began to grumble. I sat up a bit and turned to Eileen and asked, "Want to go to Wing Kingdom for lunch?"

Eileen smiled. "Sure."


End file.
